BRADENTON, Fla. — The Bradenton Area River Regatta has grown over the past 10 years into the largest spectator event in Manatee County, drawing 100,000 visitors to the powerboat race, according to organizers.

What You Need To Know

  • The two-day Bradenton Area River Regatta kicks off Friday night with live music and a drone-fireworks show

  • Trial times for the powerboat race begins at 10 a.m. on Saturday, with the powerboat championship powerboat race taking place at 4 p.m.

  • LINK: View the full event schedule

“That's the largest one that they have across the country of this type of speedboat,” said Palmetto Mayor Daniel West. “So that's an awesome thing for us to have here in our local community.”

The two-day event kicks off on Friday night with live music at Bradenton Riverwalk’s Rossi Park, followed by a drone and fireworks show at 7:15 p.m.

On Saturday, the Powerboat Super League F-2 speed race begins with time trials at 10 a.m., followed by the championship races at 4 p.m. The full event schedule can be viewed here.

“This is going to be our first race of this season,” said powerboat racer Aiden Benton. “We broke this boat out of 3 feet of snow down to get here.”

Benton said he drives down from Canada to participate in the annual race, which offers spectators multiple views.

“The thing is in boat racing, a lot of the time you can only see the race from one shoreline,” he said. “Whereas here, you're going to look at it from the Green Bridge. You can look down on it and everyone can see the all of the action.”

Greg Campbell, director of operations and executive chef at Pier 22, said it has been fun watching the event grow and expects to be over capacity on Saturday.

“Typically we get a big influx,” he said. “It’s just been wonderful to be a part of it over the 10 years. Watching here from day one to today, watching it grow, watching Bradenton grow along with it.”